Isolated
by DearieMate
Summary: Captain Swan AU: She doesn't think it can get any worse when she's stuck on campus for holiday break. But little does she know, one encounter with classmate Killian Jones would turn her world upside down. Rated T for now, but expect later chapters to be M.


_**So this fic was inspired by a couple prompts I saw on tumblr: 'both didn't get the memo that class was cancelled'+ 'both are alone on campus for christmas break.' I'm not quite sure how long it will be, but I'm looking forward to getting into this one. Rated T for now but expect some smut later on. *Note: the character of Rose is meant to be Tinkerbell, just for reference. Cheers! **_

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><p><span>Isolated<span>

She frantically looked down at her watch. 8:10 AM. _Shit. _

It was the final class of the semester, and Dr. Hopper had required them to come in to get important information regarding their online exam (she wasn't stupid, she knew this meant something about extra credit). She tightened the scarf around her neck and pulled her knit hat down over her ears, and off she went.

She bounded across campus as fast as she could, hoping and praying that Dr. Hopper would be forgiving for the last day. The wind was bitter as the cold December weather began rolling into town. Tomorrow would be the start of Christmas holiday, which meant that today was her last chance to scrape up any extra points she could (damn financial aid requires a certain GPA…_of course)_. She was an over-achiever though, and always had been. She always had to prove herself (why she felt this way, she could never really pinpoint).

It's almost 8:20 when she finally made it to the lecture hall (she almost never slept through her alarm, but all these late nights studying probably wasn't helping). She took a deep breath and turned the knob, but to her surprise, it was completely empty.

"What the hell?"

She walked inside, completely dumbfounded. She checked her watch again. They should be here…Where was everyone?

_Unless._

Her eyes drifted down to the professor's desk at the bottom of the stairway, in the front of the classroom. On top was a single sheet of paper. She trudged down the steps, knowing full well what the note probably said, but needing to read it anyway.

_"Dear Students,"_ the note read, _"If you checked your emails this morning, you would have seen that class had been cancelled for today. For those of you who promptly replied to that email, you were given instructions on how to receive the extra credit. As for the rest of you, I'm very sorry but at this point in time, I am out of town on business and cannot send you the information as well. Sorry about the trouble. Happy holidays, Dr. Hopper."_

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she groaned.

She set the piece of paper back down, and sat in one of the seats in the front row, and laid her head in her arms on the desk. She hadn't even thought to check her email because she'd been in such a hurry to get there on time.

Perfect, just **perfect**. A shit way to start a shitty holiday season.

Her father had recently been laid off from his job, and her mother wasn't making enough to be able to afford a plane ticket home for her (she understood, but it didn't make it suck any less).

So, she would be stuck on campus for the next two weeks, alone and likely bored out of her mind, when all she wanted in the world was to be at home with her parents, helping her mother decorate the tree and listening to her father belt cheesy songs along with the radio.

The thought made tears prickle at her eyes, and for once in her life, she let them come. There was no one else around, who cares? She allowed herself the moment of weakness.

And then the door creaked open.

She quickly sat up and began drying her face, sniffling and trying to steady her breath, desperately trying to play it cool.

Until _he _walked over.

Killian Jones. He _would _be late. It was a miracle he'd even made it this far in the class. She watched him as he sauntered over to the professor's desk and picked up the note. Emma tried to keep her composure as she finally spoke up.

"Class is cancelled."

His eyes darted up to hers from across the paper, and she swore she could feel her own pulse pounding in her ears.

He spoke up in his gruff, sensuously accented voice. "I gathered that much from the note on the door, and the completely empty classroom."

Sarcastic bastard.

"Then why did you come in here?"

"Because I saw you."

She tried to get up and leave then, annoyed with him already. And she would have left, if he hadn't blocked her way.

"Move," she said sternly. She could feel her cheeks blushing red at their close proximity. He was looking awful smug in his black pea coat, blue scarf wrapped around his neck grazing his stubble. It matched the shade of his eyes almost exactly. The thought made her breath hitch in her throat, and they stood like that, tension brewing between them, for what seemed like hours.

She'd heard of him, this Killian Jones. Even seen him a few times when he decided to grace the class with his presence. He certainly had a-_reputation_- around campus. Party boy, womanizer, one of those who could get away with skipping class and still get good grades.

She _loathed _him.

He was not worth her time right now. If she hurried, she may be able to email Dr. Hopper and work something out.

He looked at her then, sensing her attitude change. Emma felt suddenly very vulnerable and uncomfortable with that, and tried to leave again.

But he stepped in her way.

"Hey, wait." He said, holding his hands up in protest. He took a step toward her then, and she found that her feet were frozen to the floor. He reached a hand up, simply wiping a tear that she had somehow missed off of her cheek.

It was a sweet gesture, and Emma had no idea what to think about it. Her _first _thought was that he was trying to "bond" with her, likely to try and win her over with his charms. She could have kicked herself for the split second of indiscretion when she thought that _maybe that wouldn't be so bad. _Maybe he wasn't as bad as she'd previously thought.

He smiled then, noticing her features soften. She sensed something else creeping up into his features, like a vulture ready to attack.

"Don't tell me you've been crying over a few extra points, love."

And there it was. He was e_xactly _who she thought he was. Smug bastard.

She shot him a look of disgust. "Shut up."

"Ooh, struck a nerve there, did I? I thought as much."

Asshole. Her fiery eyes looked back into his (damn if they weren't the bluest ones she'd ever seen).

"You don't know me. And I'm not your 'love.'"

"I'd like to know you," he said. "It's Emma, right?"

She felt that if she stood there a moment longer, she might punch the guy. But instead, she tried to compress her anger and just focus on leaving. She took a deep breath.

"Would you please just move?"

She thought he must have sensed the frustration in her voice, and when his hands flew up in the air in surrender, he moved out of the way.

As she walked up the stairs to leave, he spoke up again.

"Just trying to make friendly conversation."

She turned and answered, "Yeah, well your technique could use a little work."

She slammed the door behind her, hoping that today wasn't setting up a precedent for the rest of holiday break. By tomorrow she would be one of the only people on campus, and hopefully wouldn't have to see _him _again.

* * *

><p>The tears stung in her eyes as she trekked back to her dorm in due time (she makes a mental note never to sign up for an 8AM class ever again), fighting against the bitter cold wind that was a sure sign that snow was on the way.<p>

She sighed deeply when she stepped into her apartment, feeling the tingling sensation of heat crawling back into her limbs. Her roommate Rose was there, packing her things so she could leave for holiday break.

"When do you leave?" Emma asked, sinking down onto the couch to catch her breath.

"A couple hours. But I have to leave sooner to check in at the airport on time."

Emma couldn't help but feel a little sad, and jealous that Rose got to go home and she had to stay there, alone.

Rose looked at her with sympathy. "You know, if you had only told me about your situation earlier, I would have stayed up here with you."

Emma looked back with gratitude. "I know. But it's okay, I'll be fine."

Rose patted her on the shoulder before retreating back into her room to finish packing.

She picked up her laptop, and clicked it on to check her email.

Sure enough, the notice about class was right there, sitting in her inbox.

She deleted it without reading. It felt useless at this point. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, annoyed with herself for screwing up the day so much already. She still had to take the online exam, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to ace it. But that was later. For the present moment, she decided to just put it out of her mind.

She had another email sitting in her inbox, this time from the University Student Association. The subject line read, "STUCK ON CAMPUS FOR CHRISTMAS? CLICK THROUGH FOR FUN EVENTS AND MORE!"

She didn't want to, but clicked it anyway.

It had the usual: Christmas parties, restaurants and events nearby that were giving student discounts, and more. Her eyes fell to one in particular: a student mixer, not too far from her apartment.

"Tomorrow night, come out and meet some new friends to make your holiday the best you've ever had!"

She huffed. Yeah, right. She highly doubted that it would be the "best" holiday she would ever have, but she also knew that it didn't have to be completely miserable.

So she decided to go. It couldn't hurt, and it's not like she had any other plans…

The next day she arrived at the ballroom above the student lounge, ready for the mixer. She was there early (after yesterday, she never wanted to be late to anything again in her life). There weren't many people there yet, so she made her way to the refreshments table and got a drink. Red punch, though unfortunately _not _the spiked kind.

After a few minutes, a crowd of students slowly started to trickle in. She finds it surprisingly easy to just start talking to people. Perhaps it was because they were all in similar situations. No one really wanted to be there over break. The campus was practically a ghost town. But yet, there they were.

She had to admit it-she was actually _enjoying _herself, until her eyes fell on one particular person in the room, whom she hadn't noticed was there before.

Killian Jones.

Of course. OF COURSE he was also staying here over the holidays. She had had a feeling her luck was going to run out at some point.

He was talking with a group of guys at a corner table, and she had to turn away to hide the blush in her cheeks when he caught her watching him. She walked back over to the drink table, filling up her glass again.

Moments later, he was there. Figures.

He looked like he was about to say something to her, but then stopped.

Strange.

She was expecting him to try and mess with her again (he seemed to get some sort of weird pleasure out of doing that) but he didn't.

In fact, for the rest of the evening, he didn't even look at her.

She tried to figure out what it was that was causing it-what could _he _possibly have against her? He was the one acting like a jerk yesterday. She couldn't take it any longer. She didn't know _why_ she was so concerned about this. Hell, she should be happy that he's not paying her any mind. But she wasn't. She had to figure out what he was up to.

"Hey," she says, tapping him on the shoulder. He turns from his group of friends and looks surprised to see her there.

"Hey to you too, Emma. I must say, you're looking ravishing tonight."

She could already feel her blood boiling. This was a stupid idea.

"Why are you ignoring me?"

He steps away from his group of friends, leading her by the arm with him (and if she felt any sort of electric shock at his touch-she would never admit it).

"I was of the understanding that you wanted nothing to do with me," he said.

"You were the one acting like a jerk yesterday," she said.

"What, do you think I owe you an apology? I was merely trying to get to know you."

"Well it didn't seem that way."

"I'm sorry," he huffs (though clearly still happy that she was completely unnerved by him), "can you not stand not being the center of attention or something?"

Now he'd done it.

"You're one to talk!" she shouted.

"Admit it love, you-"

She cut him off. "For the last time, don't call me that!"

He took a step toward her and lowered his voice, smile as smug as ever (she caught a scent of him this time-something surreal and sensual and _damn him)._

_"_Make me."

Moments later, the red punch from Emma's cup is drenching his face and front of his shirt. She doesn't stick around for the aftermath, but instantly regrets it when she makes it outside the ballroom.

She goes back to her apartment that night, eager to get out her bottle of rum and just be alone. She didn't need anyone else. This holiday was going to be fine.

(But she knew she was lying to herself).

The next morning, she checked her Facebook. A little red balloon had popped up at some point that night after she'd fallen asleep.

**NEW FRIEND REQUEST: KILLIAN JONES**

**ACCEPT **OR** DENY?**

She takes a deep breath, and clicks her choice.


End file.
